Cascade, Nationals, and everything in between

This blog has obviously been lacking updates. I have been unmotivated to write blog entries. I apologize to all you committed readers :). Anyway, I'll try to write about what's been going on since my last post.

July 21-26 was the Cascade Cycling Classic. The courses were great. It was a fun race, but extremely hot.

Stage 1: Flat, boring, and hot. Our sprinter and guest rider, Kirsty Broun, took the green jersey with sprint points and finished 6th on the stage.

Stage 2: Hot. Anne was in a well-represented break for a majority of the break, so the race was boring until the final climb. We caught the break-away on the last 10km climb. My job for the day was done once we hit the final climb. I was told to take it easy going up it to save my legs for the rest of the week. So I did.

Stage 3: Redemption. Finally, my legs started to come around. The time trial course was mostly the same course that would be used to Nationals, so I wanted to test it out. I pulled off a decent result. Jessica won the TT, which was pretty awesome!

Stage 4: My legs felt awesome. TIBCO attacked essentially from the gun. As you can see, the race started on a climb. There was a select group that made it over the top together ahead of the main field. The only team not represent was Webcor. Anne made the break. The group pulled away from us and had quite a big time gap on us. Webcor came to the front and showed us why they are truley one of the top teams in the nation. Very impressive team work! The break was caught. Attacks happened, but nothing stuck. The final climb took it's toll on the group and whittled down the numbers. I was able to make it into the 2nd chase group. I watched Evie Stevens ride away from everyone, again.
Stage 5: Whicked fast! This stage was a flat criterium. It had a few technical turns, and two really long straight-aways. The pace was high and the group was strung out the entire time. I won a prime. So did Toni. Our sprinter got 3rd place after an awesome leadout by Anne. It was a fun race.

Stage 6: Hot again. This course was the same as the nationals road race course, so everyone was testing the waters. Attacks happened, but nothing stuck. The race came down to a select group that ended up spliting up in various parts of the course. Anne got 4th place on the day.


I got to spend some time in Bend. It's a pretty cool area. Lots of neat scenery! Here's some photos from a drive.



Fast forward a few days to Elite Nationals.

July 30 was the road race. Like I said, it was the same course as the last day of Cascade. It was an early race so the temperature wasn't a huge factor. Amber Rais of TIBCO was off the front for 60km of the race. I flatted on the 2nd lap going up the feed zone climb. Neutral support was up with Amber and we didn't have a team car in the caravan. Lucky for me, Webcor stopped and gave me a wheel (THANKS SO MUCH DAVE!) I chased for 1/2 a lap. I came close to catching them, but then they decided to heat things up and chase down Amber. So, I rode the rest of the lap to the feed zone and called it quits. Didn't see any point in trying to chase back on any longer. I was only going to dig myself into a hole for the time trial. I don't know how the race played out exactly. But once Amber was caught, there was a break. My coach, Meredith Miller of TIBCO, was in it. From my understanding, she attacked with 2km to go and stuck it to win the National title - SWEET! Congrats again Meredith!

July 31 was the time trial. It was 35km long. The course was the same as the Cascade TT plus a 10km loop. It was a hard race for sure. I couldn't really find a rhythm and wasn't motivated at all during the TT. Somehow I pulled off 20th though (but I was 4minutes behind the winner). My teammate Jessica Phillips won the TT. AWESOME!!!! She is absolutely flying this year!

Now I'm in Iowa. My friends got married this weekend and I got to play dress up :)

Congrats Claire and Brady!!!

Yes, this really is me.

Next up is Downer's Grove this coming weekend. After that, it's back to Colorado for a few weeks. Then Gateway Cup in St. Louis. The season is starting to wind down. Then I'll have more time to blog (about nothing) :). Thanks for checking in!!
-A